India is launching Bharat Taxi, a cooperative-based national ride-hailing platform under Digital India, with NeGD partnering Sahakar Taxi Cooperative for technical and advisory support.
About the Bharat Taxi Initiative:
Objective: To create a citizen-centric alternative to global ride-hailing corporations, ensuring fair wages, cooperative governance, and local ownership.
Nature: A cooperative-owned, technology-driven national ride-hailing platform designed to provide affordable, secure, and transparent mobility solutions.
Timeline: Expected by December 2025, targeting both urban and rural transport needs.
Promoters: Supported by leading cooperative and financial institutions NCDC, IFFCO, AMUL, KRIBHCO, NAFED, NABARD, NDDB, and NCEL.
Key Features:
Cooperative Ownership Model: Operated and governed by driver cooperatives, ensuring profit-sharing, fair pricing, and collective decision-making.
Digital Integration: Linked with national platforms such as DigiLocker, UMANG, and API Setu, allowing seamless identity verification, license validation, and service delivery.
Inclusive Design: Provides multilingual UI, accessibility for differently-abled users, and equal participation for women drivers.
Transparent Fare System: Uses open-source algorithms for real-time fare calculation to prevent overcharging or surge pricing manipulation.
Integration with Digital Public Infrastructure: Aligned with Aadhaar, UPI, and DigiLocker, facilitating digital payments and paperless onboarding.
President Droupadi Murmu met members of Gujarat’s Siddi Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) community and praised their 72% literacy rate as a sign of social progress.
About the Siddi Community:
Overview: An Afro-Indian tribal group descended from Bantu-speaking peoples of Southeast Africa, brought to India via the Indian Ocean slave trade (7th–19th centuries).
Arrival in India: First arrived at Bharuch port (628 CE) with Arab traders; major influxes during Muhammad bin Qasim’s conquest (712 CE) and later under Portuguese and British.
Migration & Settlement: Brought as soldiers, sailors, slaves, and servants; some escaped bondage to form independent forest settlements.
Genealogy: Studies show 60–75 % African admixture mixed with Indian and Portuguese ancestry accumulated over two centuries.
Geographic Distribution: Concentrated in Karnataka (Uttara Kannada, Belgaum, Dharwad) and Gujarat (Junagadh, Gir-Somnath, Saurashtra); smaller groups in Maharashtra, Goa, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh; total population 40 k–2.5 lakh.
Historical Role: Served in Deccan Sultanate and Nizam armies; most famous figure, Malik Ambar (1600–1626), Ethiopian-origin prime minister of Ahmadnagar (now Ahilyanagar).
Cultural and Demographic Features:
Social Status: Recognised as Scheduled Tribe (ST) in five regions and as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG).
Language & Culture: Speak regional languages, Gujarati, Konkani, Marathi, Kannada, but retain African musical and spiritual traditions, notably the Goma/Dhamaal dance rooted in Ngoma drumming and ancestral worship.
Religion: Predominantly Muslim (≈ 99 % in Gujarat) with Hindu and Christian minorities; practices blend Sufi, African, and Indian folk elements.
Livelihoods & Economy: Depend on agriculture, forest labour, crafts, and daily wage work; socio-economic deprivation and limited access to education, health, housing persist.
Cultural Continuity: Maintain African-Indian fusion in music, attire, and cuisine; Marfa music in Hyderabad and Dhamaal dance near Sasan Gir remain iconic.
Sports & Identity: Active in boxing and football, using sport for youth empowerment and social mobility.
[UPSC 2024] What is the concept of a ‘demographic winter’? Is the world moving towards such a situation? Elaborate.
Linkage: Demographic shifts in border regions can exacerbate tensions, linking the topic to communalism and regionalism. Illegal migration links directly to organized crime, such as human trafficking, drug trafficking (India’s proximity to illicit opium-growing states is a major concern mentioned in 2018 PYQ), and the potential penetration by external state and non-state actors.
Introduction:
On August 15, 2025, the Prime Minister had announced the launch of India’s Demographic Mission, a comprehensive national initiative aimed at monitoring, managing, and interpreting India’s demographic transitions.
Initially projected as a mechanism to monitor undocumented immigration from Bangladesh and its demographic implications in India’s border regions, the mission’s vision extends to a broader national strategy for demographic management.
The initiative comes at a time when India, now the world’s most populous nation, stands at a demographic crossroads, balancing its youth potential with emerging challenges of migration, ageing, inequality, and social security.
What is the Demographic Mission?
Launch: Unveiled by PM on 15 August 2025, it is a national initiative to monitor, manage, and interpret India’s demographic transitions in a holistic and strategic manner.
Focus: Initially targeted at undocumented immigration from Bangladesh, addressing demographic and border-security implications through biometric systems, AI-based surveillance, and smart fencing.
Expanded Mandate: Evolved into a comprehensive population governance framework, integrating security, social, and developmental objectives across ministries.
Institutional Measures: Includes formulation of a National Refugee Law, implementation of the National Register of Indian Citizens (NRC), and demographic data integration across sectors.
Policy Shift: Moves from population control to capability development, treating demographic potential as a source of economic strength and human capital formation.
Socio-Political Dimensions of Demography:
Reframing the Debate: Shifts the focus from population control to issues of equity, inclusion, and sustainability.
Migration and Identity Politics: Highlights that migration and fertility transitions shape social hierarchies and electoral narratives, influencing policy priorities and identity construction.
Institutional Sensitivity: Calls for embedding demographic awareness in governance, particularly in urbanisation, labour mobility, and welfare systems.
Demographic Diversity as Strength: Treats India’s multi-ethnic and multi-lingual population as an asset for national integration rather than division.
National Integration Framework: Positions demography as a foundation for inclusive federal policy and cohesive nation-building.
Various Issues:
Illegal Immigration: Ongoing influx from Bangladesh strains border security and regional demographics, complicating citizenship and resource distribution.
Migration & Identity Exclusion: Internal migrants lack voting rights and welfare access due to “usual residence” definitions, leading to political marginalisation.
Ageing and Longevity: Rising life expectancy necessitates rethinking retirement age, social security, and elder-care policies.
Regional Inequality: Unequal spread of education, health, and skilling infrastructure widens developmental divides among states.
Policy Insensitivity: Centralised, per capita-based planning ignores population composition, gender ratio, and dependency structures.
Governance Centralisation: Demographic planning remains highly centralised, with limited state participation in design and monitoring.
Various Solutions for Demographic Balance:
Migration Reform: Provide legal recognition of migrant rights, ensure voting portability and welfare mobility, and promote balanced internal migration.
Education and Skill Equity: Build uniform educational and vocational infrastructure and establish regional skill hubs to reduce capability gaps.
Active Ageing Policies: Redefine retirement norms, expand financial security, and create avenues for productive ageing.
Technological Integration: Deploy AI, GIS, and big-data platforms for real-time demographic mapping, analysis, and predictive planning.
Decentralised Demographic Planning: Create federal demographic councils linked with NITI Aayog for region-specific strategies.
Demographic Sensitisation: Mainstream population literacy and demographic research in policymaking, academia, and public discourse.
Global Context and Strategic Positioning:
Youth Advantage: With a median age of 29 years, India stands out amid ageing societies like Japan, Europe, and China.
Human Capital Vision: The mission aligns with India’s aspiration to become the “Skill Capital of the World,” enhancing global labour competitiveness.
Geopolitical Relevance: Integrates population policy into national security and global strategy, positioning demography as a tool of soft power and developmental diplomacy.
Long-Term Significance: By combining population management, human development, and digital governance, the mission redefines India’s demographic policy for the 21st century — linking security, sustainability, and sovereignty.
Way Forward:
Institutionalise Demographic Policy: Establish a National Demographic Council for cross-ministerial coordination.
Focus on Human Capital: Prioritise investments in education, health, and skill ecosystems over mere population management.
Protect Migrant Rights: Legislate a Migrant Workers’ Charter to ensure political and social inclusion.
Reform Social Security: Develop portable pension and healthcare systems adaptable to mobility and longevity trends.
Adopt Data Ethics: Balance demographic surveillance with privacy protection and civil liberties.
Mainstream Demographic Literacy: Integrate population studies into governance, academia, and public administration.
Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi arrived in New Delhi on an official visit, his first since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021.
The visit represents a major recalibration in India’s Afghanistan policy, as New Delhi cautiously engages the Taliban regime without formal recognition. India’s approach blends strategic pragmatism and regional security concerns, focusing on maintaining influence in Afghanistan’s evolving geopolitical environment while avoiding premature diplomatic endorsement.
India-Taliban Ties: A Quick Recap
India never formally recognized the Taliban regime prior to or after 2021.
Initial contacts date back to the late 1990s (e.g., during the IC-814 hijacking), but India’s engagement remained limited due to Pakistan’s dominance over the Taliban.
Post-2021, India has maintained pragmatic engagement of humanitarian aid, infrastructure projects, and limited diplomatic outreach without providing de jure recognition.
India’s Post-2021 Approach- Diplomatic Balancing and Western Response:
India adopted a “cautious engagement” policy: restoring a technical mission in Kabul, resuming aid delivery, and holding diplomatic contacts.
In 2025, India announced plans to reopen its embassy in Kabul, initially with a Chargé d’affaires, avoiding formal recognition.
India’s silence on human rights and women’s issues during diplomatic talks reflects strategic restraint, balancing ideological concerns with geopolitical necessity.
The Western response is ambivalent. India’s engagement is scrutinized to ensure it does not inadvertently legitimize the Taliban or dilute India’s democratic credentials.
Taliban and Its Geopolitical Realignments (2024–2025):
China: First major power to exchange ambassadors with the Taliban (2024); deepening economic, mining, and infrastructure ties.
Russia: Moving to delist Taliban as a terrorist group; promoting counterterror cooperation.
Expand economic roles: Prioritize mining, power, and infrastructure projects to anchor Indian presence.
Broaden diplomatic contacts: Engage Afghan civil society, minorities, and regional stakeholders for balanced outreach.
PYQ Relevance:
[UPSC 2013] The proposed withdrawal of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) from Afghanistan in 2014 is fraught with major security implications for the countries of the region. Examine in light of the fact that India is faced with a plethora of challenges and needs to safeguard its own strategic interests.
Linkage: The instability in Kabul, coupled with the influence of external state and non-state actors, directly impacts India’s internal security landscape, especially concerning terrorism, border security challenges, and the potential linkage between organized crime and drug trafficking. Therefore, questions may assess India’s strategic autonomy, humanitarian diplomacy, connectivity projects (like Chabahar), and counter-terrorism strategies, requiring candidates to demonstrate applied knowledge linking foreign policy decisions with internal stability.
Trade negotiations between India and the United States remain stalled after President Trump’s administration doubled tariffs on Indian goods to 50% and imposed an additional 25% duty on Russian oil imports by India.
Introduction
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar emphasised that while understanding with the US, “the world’s largest market” is essential, India’s economic sovereignty and red lines must be respected.
This impasse reflects the global shift from free trade to protectionism, echoing earlier eras when India resisted externally imposed economic dominance, first under colonial exploitation, and later through planned economic reconstruction after independence.
Colonial Economic Exploitation and India’s Resistance:
Transformation of Economy: The British colonial system dismantled India’s self-sufficient agrarian and artisanal base, converting the country into a supplier of raw materials and a market for British-manufactured goods.
Drain Theory and Fiscal Exploitation: Dadabhai Naoroji, in Poverty and Un-British Rule in India (1901), argued that India’s wealth was drained to Britain, financing its prosperity: “The British Indian Empire is formed and maintained entirely by Indian money and mainly by Indian blood.”
Phases of Colonial Capitalism:
Mercantile Capitalism (EIC Era): Extraction through monopoly trade and taxation.
Industrial Capitalism (19th Century): India reduced to an exporter of raw cotton and importer of textiles.
Finance Capitalism (Early 20th Century): British private capital dominated infrastructure, plantations, and banking, reinforcing dependency.
Economic Consequences: The structure produced de-industrialisation, agrarian stagnation, excessive taxation, and recurring famines, resulting in widespread impoverishment.
Intellectual Critiques of the Colonial Economy:
R. C. Dutt – Industrial Destruction: In The Economic History of India (1901–02), he demonstrated how colonial policies deliberately destroyed indigenous industries to protect British manufacturers.
M. G. Ranade – Economic Dependency: Criticised colonial economic dependence and advocated industrial regeneration through Indian entrepreneurship.
R. Palme Dutt – Stages of Imperialism: In India To-day (1940), identified three stages of capitalist domination , mercantile, industrial, and finance , highlighting the evolution of imperial control.
G. V. Joshi, an Economist, aptly described railway expenditure as an “Indian subsidy to British industry.”
Economic Reconstruction After Independence:
Inherited Structural Weakness: At independence in 1947, India faced an agrarian, impoverished, and unequal economy drained of capital and industrial base.
Ideological Synthesis: Rejecting Cold War binaries, India adopted a non-aligned mixed economy, blending socialist planning with capitalist pragmatism to ensure self-reliance and equity.
Intellectual Precursors to Planning:
Visvesvaraya Plan (1934) – advocated industrialisation and state coordination.
National Planning Committee (1938) – set the foundation for state-directed development.
Bombay Plan (1944) – proposed large-scale industrialisation with public–private cooperation.
Gandhian and People’s Plans (1944–45) – emphasised decentralisation and rural self-sufficiency.
First and Second Five-Year Plans:
First Plan (1951–56): Focused on agriculture, irrigation, and rural reconstruction.
Second Plan (1956–61): Based on P. C. Mahalanobis model, prioritising heavy industries, capital goods, and import substitution.
Planned Economy and Centralisation of Authority:
Institutional Creation: The Planning Commission (1950), chaired by the Prime Minister, institutionalised centralised planning and target allocation.
Fiscal Centralisation: The Finance Commission (Article 280), though constitutionally mandated for fiscal transfers, became secondary to plan-based resource allocation.
Limited Federal Consultation: The National Development Council (1952) was created to involve states but lacked independent financial powers.
Command Economy Features: India’s planning structure mirrored Soviet-style central control, aiming for rapid industrialisation, public sector expansion, and poverty eradication, yet it consolidated central dominance in economic governance.
Transition to Federal Economic Governance:
Liberalisation Era (1991): The balance-of-payments crisis triggered wide-ranging reforms , ending the Licence–Permit–Quota Raj, deregulating industries, reducing tariffs, and inviting foreign investment.
Market Orientation: The 1991 reforms replaced the state-led model with market-driven growth and integration into the global economy.
Institutional Transformation:
Abolition of the Planning Commission (2014) reflected a shift from central command to federal cooperation.
Creation of NITI Aayog (2015) introduced cooperative and competitive federalism, emphasising state innovation and evidence-based policymaking.
Fiscal Federal Tensions: The Goods and Services Tax (GST) exemplifies fiscal unity but has also constrained state autonomy, fuelling debates on vertical imbalance and fiscal equity.
India–US Trade Divergences in the Contemporary Context:
Tariff Dispute Dynamics: The Trump tariff regime, justified on grounds of national security and domestic job protection, contradicted WTO’s comparative advantage principle, undermining global free-trade norms.
India’s Strategic Response: Rooted in historical awareness, India’s trade policy seeks to balance self-reliance with pragmatic global engagement, defending domestic interests while avoiding isolationism.
Philosophical Continuity: Jaishankar’s remark, “If trade becomes tariffs, where is competitiveness?”, encapsulates India’s enduring critique of externally imposed asymmetry, echoing nationalist economic thought since the colonial period.
Legacy of India’s Economic Resistance:
Continuum of Policy Evolution: From colonial subjugation through planned reconstruction to liberal federalism, India’s economic trajectory reflects a consistent assertion of sovereignty and self-determination.
Recurrent Themes: The pursuit of self-reliance, equitable growth, and resistance to external control runs through every policy phase from Naoroji’s drain theory to NITI Aayog’s cooperative model.
Contemporary Relevance: The present India–US trade friction is not merely a tactical disagreement but a symbolic reaffirmation of India’s historical resolve to resist economic subordination and preserve strategic autonomy.
Way Forward:
Strategic Engagement: Pursue trade negotiations with the US grounded in reciprocity, not submission.
Institutional Resilience: Strengthen WTO-aligned frameworks for dispute resolution to safeguard multilateralism.
Domestic Competitiveness: Expand manufacturing and exports through PLI schemes and innovation-driven incentives.
Federal Balance: Reinforce fiscal autonomy of states to sustain broad-based economic growth.
Economic Diplomacy: Integrate trade with technology partnerships, digital cooperation, and sustainable supply chains to mitigate external shocks.
PYQ Relevance:
[UPSC 2014] Examine critically the various facets of economic policies of the British in India from mid-eighteenth century till independence.
Linkage: This topic is critical because India’s historical experience of economic domination, marked by policies such as the Drain of Wealth and de-industrialisation during the colonial era, profoundly shapes its present-day foreign policy and economic decision-making.
The Centre has notified the first legally binding Greenhouse Gas Emission Intensity (GEI) Target Rules, 2025 for four high-emission sectors: aluminium, cement, chlor-alkali, and pulp & paper.
This marks a critical step in operationalising the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS), 2023.
Back2Basics:Greenhouse Gas Emission Intensity (GEI)
Overview: GEI is the amount of GHGs emitted per unit of product output or economic activity; for example, the emissions released in producing one tonne of cement, aluminium, or steel.
Unit of Measurement: Expressed in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO₂e) per unit of product.
Purpose: GEI helps measure the efficiency of industrial production in terms of emissions.
Policy Significance: Reducing GEI aligns industrial operations with national and global climate commitments, particularly under the Paris Agreement (2015), where India has pledged to cut its emissions intensity of GDP by 45% by 2030 (from 2005 levels).
About Greenhouse Gas Emission Intensity (GEI) Target Rules, 2025:
Notification: Issued by the MoEFCC on October 8, 2025, these are India’s first legally binding emission intensity targets for industries.
Objective: To limit greenhouse gas emissions per unit of product output in high-emission sectors, thereby promoting low-carbon industrial growth and aligning with India’s Paris Agreement commitment to reduce emission intensity of GDP by 45% by 2030 (from 2005 levels).
Coverage: Applies to 282 industrial units across four sectors– cement (186 units), aluminium (13), chlor-alkali (30), and pulp & paper (53).
Compliance Period: 2025–26 and 2026–27; emission limits expressed in tCO₂e (tonnes of CO₂ equivalent) per unit of product.
Mechanism:
Units achieving targets earn carbon credits (certified by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency).
Non-compliant units must buy credits or face environmental compensation under CPCB oversight.
Purpose: To operationalise India’s domestic carbon market, encourage technology upgrades, and institutionalise market-based climate compliance.
Outcome: Marks transition from voluntary energy-efficiency drives (PAT Scheme) to a legally enforceable carbon-intensity regime, integrating emission monitoring, trading, and compliance.
What is the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS), 2023?
Launched by:Ministry of Power in 2023 to establish a domestic carbon trading market under India’s Energy Conservation Act framework.
Objective: To create a structured mechanism for generating, certifying, and trading carbon credits earned through verified emission reductions.
Administered by:Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), which issues Carbon Credit Certificates (CCC) to compliant industries.
Framework:
Industries meeting or exceeding GEI targets receive tradable credits.
Entities failing to meet targets must purchase credits to offset excess emissions.
Credits are traded on the Indian Carbon Market (ICM) platform.
Purpose: To make emission reduction economically incentivised, transforming carbon from a cost burden into a market asset.
Global Parallel: Similar to the EU Emissions Trading System (2005) and China’s National Carbon Market (2021).
Significance: Integrates energy efficiency, emission control, and fiscal instruments to drive India’s net-zero transition through a market-based, transparent, and measurable approach.
[UPSC 2025] Consider the following statements:
I. Carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions in India are less than 0.5 t CO₂/capita.
II. In terms of CO₂ emissions from fuel combustion, India ranks second in Asia-Pacific region.
III. Electricity and heat producers are the largest sources of CO₂ emissions in India.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Options:
(a) I and III only (b) II only (c) II and III only * (d) I, II and III
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology announced the transfer of technology for agricultural and environmental solutions developed under the Agricultural and Environmental Electronics (AgriEnIcs) Programme.
What is AgriEnIcs Programme?
Overview: A national initiative of the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) integrating electronics, IT, and digital technologies into agriculture and environmental management.
Objective: To promote research, development, deployment, and commercialization of advanced tools for precision agriculture and sustainable resource monitoring.
Nature of Programme: Serves as a national R&D and technology translation platform connecting academia, industry, and government for innovation-driven solutions.
Implementing Agency: Led by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Kolkata as nodal agency, with participation from IITs, ICAR institutes, and private entities.
Development: All technologies designed and tested in India for affordability and rural scalability.
Strategic Vision: Strengthens India’s push toward AI- and IoT-enabled agri-systems, aligning with Atmanirbhar Bharat and Digital India.
Key Features:
Integrated Tech Approach: Combines AI, IoT, machine vision, and sensor networks for intelligent agricultural and environmental systems.
Collaborative Framework: Operates through partnerships among MeitY, C-DAC, academic, and industrial institutions to speed up technology transfer.
Multi-Domain Focus: Addresses dairy health monitoring, crop quality estimation, odour detection, and waste-management automation.
AI & ML Applications: Enables predictive diagnostics, real-time data analytics, and automated decision support in farm operations.
Sensor-Based Systems: Deploys wearable sensors, vision devices, and automated analyzers for livestock, grain, and environment monitoring.
Scalable Architecture: Interoperable with AgriStack, Ayush Grid, and other government data platforms for nationwide expansion.
The Ministry of Ayush has launched the Digitized Retrieval Application for Versatile Yardstick of Ayush Substances (DRAVYA) portal the largest digital repository of Ayurvedic ingredients and formulations.
About DRAVYA Portal:
Developed By: Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) under the Ministry of Ayush.
Purpose: To build a centralized, open-access knowledge platform integrating classical Ayurveda with modern scientific data for global research and policy use.
Launch: Released on 10th Ayurveda Day (23 September 2025) at Goa, marking a major digital step in traditional medicine.
Phase I Coverage: Includes data on 100 medicinal substances, updated through a dedicated entry system ensuring precision and authenticity.
Integration Goal: Designed to connect with the Ayush Grid and allied Ministry databases for coordinated digital governance and research.
Scope: Merges textual, botanical, pharmacological, and chemical information for cross-disciplinary validation and innovation.
Key Features:
AI-Ready Design: Built with artificial intelligence capability for analytics, discovery, and predictive research.
Open-Access Repository: Consolidates validated data from classical texts, scientific literature, and field studies in searchable form.
Comprehensive Profiles: Details each substance’s pharmacotherapeutics, botany, chemistry, pharmacology, and safety aspects.
QR-Code Integration: Enables standardised display of plant data in gardens, repositories, and institutions.
Advanced Search Filters: Sorts substances by rasa (taste), virya (potency), vipaka (post-digestive effect), and therapeutic use.
Dynamic Database: Continuously updated for authenticity and scientific rigour.
Global Accessibility: Serves as a credible digital reference for researchers, policymakers, and innovators worldwide.
Future Expansion: Will interlink with Ayush Grid, National Medicinal Plants Database, and Ayush Drug Policy for an integrated digital health ecosystem.
Maria Corina Machado won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for defending democracy in Venezuela; President Trump praised her but criticised the Nobel Committee.
About Nobel Peace Prize:
Origin: Instituted in 1901 under the will of Alfred Nobel, Swedish inventor and philanthropist, to honour outstanding contributions to peace and humanitarian cooperation.
Administered By: Managed by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, a five-member body appointed by the Parliament of Norway, distinct from Sweden’s Nobel institutions.
Purpose: Awards individuals or organisations advancing disarmament, peace negotiations, democracy, human rights, and a stable global order.
Expanded Focus: Now includes climate change, environmental protection, and global justice as integral to sustainable peace.
Prize Components: Laureates receive a gold medal, diploma, and 11 million Swedish krona (≈ US $1.2 million, 2025).
Venue: Presented in Oslo, Norway, the only Nobel Prize awarded outside Sweden, symbolising Norway’s neutral and humanitarian tradition.
Global Significance: Remains the world’s most prestigious peace honour, mirroring contemporary geopolitical and ethical realities.
These trivial facts are too unlikely to be asked in the CS prelims but may hold importance for CAPF and other exams.
US Presidents who won Nobel Peace Prize:
Theodore Roosevelt (1906): Mediated the Russo–Japanese War settlement; first US President to win the prize.
Woodrow Wilson (1919): Recognised for ending World War I and founding the League of Nations, precursor to the UN.
Jimmy Carter (2002): Cited for human-rights mediation and the Camp David Accords, plus global work via the Carter Center.
Al Gore (2007): Shared with the IPCC for elevating climate change as a global peace and security issue.
Barack Obama (2009): Honoured for efforts toward nuclear disarmament and renewed international diplomacy; only US President got awarded while in office.
[UPSC 2023] Explain why suicide among young women is increasing in Indian Society.
Linkage: Mental distress is deeply intertwined with societal issues like increasing suicide rates among young women, poverty, marginalization, and the impact of modernization and urbanization.
Introduction:
The National Crime Records Bureau’s Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India (ADSI) 2023 report recorded 1,71,418 suicides, a marginal 0.3% rise from 2022. While the suicide rate per lakh population declined slightly, absolute numbers remain high, underscoring a deep social, economic, and psychological crisis.
National Data and Trends as per ADSI, 2023:
Demographics: Men constituted 72.8% of suicides in 2023.
Leading Causes: Family problems: 31.9%; Illness: 19%; Substance abuse: 7%; Relationship and marriage-related issues: around 10% combined.
Regional Variation: The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Sikkim, and Kerala had the highest suicide rates, while Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, and West Bengal together accounted for over 40% of all cases.
Urban vs Rural: Cities reported consistently higher suicide rates than rural areas, reflecting the psychological stress of urbanisation and competition.
Farmer Suicides and Rural Distress:
Farmer deaths: 10,786 suicides (6.3% of total) in 2023, concentrated mainly in Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Long-term pattern: Over 1,00,000 farmers have taken their lives since 2014. Between 1995 and 2015, nearly 2,96,000 deaths were linked to debt, market volatility, and institutional neglect.
Underlying causes: Debt, crop failure, inadequate price support, and the absence of reliable social safety nets.
Invisible victims: Homemakers and caregivers, particularly women, face rising rates of depression and domestic stress but remain underrepresented in official data.
Student Suicides in India:
Rising Trend: Students account for 6–8.1% of all suicides (NCRB data). In 2023, there were 13,892 student suicides, a 65% rise over the decade, outpacing the national average increase.
Major Causes: Academic pressure, parental expectations, toxic competition, and poor mental health infrastructure are leading contributors.
Psychological Impact: Surveys show high levels of anxiety, depression, and distress, with notable gender disparities in emotional well-being.
Magnitude of Mental Illness in India:
Estimated burden: Nearly 230 million Indians live with mental disorders ranging from depression and anxiety to bipolar disorder and substance use.
Treatment gap: 70–92% of individuals with severe illness receive no formal care.
Lifetime prevalence: 10.6%, according to national health data.
Global comparison: WHO estimates India’s suicide rate at 16.3 per 1,00,000, significantly higher than the global average.
Value Addition:
India’s Mental Health Governance and Legal Framework:
Mental Healthcare Act, 2017:
Guarantees the right to affordable, quality mental health care.
Decriminalises suicide and mandates insurance coverage for psychiatric illnesses.
Upholds patient dignity and autonomy under Article 21 of the Constitution.
Judicial reinforcement: In Sukdeb Saha vs State of Andhra Pradesh (2025), the Supreme Court reaffirmed mental health as a fundamental right, compelling state accountability.
District Mental Health Programme (DMHP): Covers 767 districts, expanding access to outpatient services, suicide prevention, and counselling.
Tele MANAS Helpline: A 24×7 service offering over 20 lakh tele-counselling sessions, particularly beneficial in underserved regions.
Supreme Court Intervention: Sukdeb Saha vs. State of Andhra Pradesh (2025):
Overview: The Supreme Court invoked Articles 32 and 141 to issue 15 binding “Saha Guidelines” addressing student suicides and mental health governance in educational institutions.
Key Judgment: It upheld mental health as an integral component of the right to life.
Key Guidelines include:
Policy Mandate: All institutions must adopt a mental health policy consistent with UMMEED, MANODARPAN, and the National Suicide Prevention Strategy.
Counseling Requirement: Appointment of one certified mental health counselor in every institution with 100+ students.
Academic Practices: Ban on batch segregation, public shaming, and unrealistic academic targets.
Helpline Visibility: Mandatory display of Tele-MANAS and other helpline numbers in classrooms, hostels, and websites.
Staff Training: Biannual mental health sensitization for teachers and administrators on crisis response.
Inclusivity Measures: Institutions must ensure non-discriminatory support for SC/ST/OBC/EWS, LGBTQ+, and disabled students.
Crisis Management: Establish confidential reporting systems for ragging, discrimination, and assault, with immediate counseling access.
Preventive Steps: Control access to common means of suicide (e.g., rooftops, ceiling fans) and promote interest-based career counseling.
Systemic Gaps and Institutional Failures:
Workforce shortage: Only 0.75 psychiatrists and 0.12 psychologists per 1,00,000 population, below WHO’s minimum of 1.7 psychiatrists and far from the ideal of 3.
Underfunding: Mental health receives only 1.05% of India’s health budget, compared to 8–10% in countries like Australia, Canada, and the UK.
Policy–practice gap:
The Mental Healthcare Act (2017) decriminalised suicide and guaranteed the right to care.
The National Suicide Prevention Strategy (2022) targeted a 10% reduction in suicides.
However, implementation remains weak, and suicides continue to rise.
Non-functional initiatives:
The Manodarpan school-based support scheme remains largely inactive.
₹270 crore allocated for mental health is largely unspent.
Persistent Challenges:
Treatment Gaps: 70–92% of individuals with common disorders like depression and anxiety remain untreated.
Infrastructure Deficits: Inadequate availability of psychotropic medicines and rehabilitation services, which meet less than 15% of actual demand.
Stigma and Awareness: Over 50% of Indians still attribute mental illness to personal weakness or shame, limiting early intervention.
Workforce Urban Bias: Mental health professionals remain concentrated in cities, leaving rural areas, where 70% of India’s population lives, largely unserved.
Steps to Strengthen India’s Mental Health System: Way Forward
Budget Expansion: Raise mental health allocation to at least 5% of total health spending, ensuring resources for workforce, infrastructure, and medicine.
Workforce Development: Train and deploy mid-level mental health providers to fill rural gaps and meet WHO’s minimum density.
Integration: Embed mental health into primary health care and universal insurance coverage.
Monitoring: Create a cascade-based national monitoring system to track outcomes, ensure accountability, and guide funding.
Anti-Stigma Campaigns: Institutionalise mental health education in schools and workplaces, aiming for 60% literacy coverage by 2027.
Cross-Ministerial Coordination: Establish a unified framework linking health, education, social justice, and labour for cohesive policy execution.
Ahead of the 2025 Bihar elections, parties are intensifying women-focused welfare schemes involving cash transfers. Similar strategies in Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and West Bengal mark a national trend of targeting women voters through direct benefits.
Also the gender gap in voter turnout has narrowed significantly, with female participation matching or surpassing male turnout in several states, prompting political recognition of women as a distinct electoral constituency.
Women as a Political Category:
Shift in Political Focus: Women have emerged as a distinct political category, prompting parties to design targeted welfare schemes like Ladli Behna Yojana, Urimai Thogai, and Lakshmir Bhandar aimed exclusively at female voters.
Economic Empowerment through Welfare: Direct cash transfers have provided limited but visible economic agency, allowing women some control over finances within households traditionally dominated by men.
Beneficiary Framing: The portrayal of women primarily as labharthis (beneficiaries) reinforces dependency on state-led welfare rather than promoting them as independent political actors.
Symbolic Inclusion vs. Structural Change: Women’s growing electoral visibility has not necessarily translated into greater representation or leadership, keeping them largely outside decision-making hierarchies.
How have Political Parties harnessed the Gender Gap in Voter Turnout?
Rise in Female Turnout: Over the last two decades, the gender gap in voter participation has steadily narrowed, with female turnout surpassing male turnout in several states, notably in Bihar and Odisha.
Targeted Welfare Mobilisation: Political parties have strategically used welfare schemes and direct benefit transfers to consolidate women as a reliable voter base, focusing on cash assistance, LPG subsidies, and maternal benefits.
Micro-Targeting: Manifestos and election campaigns increasingly feature women-focused promises, indicating recognition of their collective electoral strength.
Narrative of Care Politics: Political rhetoric frames women as symbols of social welfare and household well-being, enabling parties to blend economic populism with gender outreach.
Significance of Women’s Voting Behaviour:
Indicator of Political Maturity: The steady rise in women’s participation marks a structural shift in India’s democratic engagement, highlighting growing awareness of rights and entitlements.
Independent Electoral Agency: Increasing evidence shows that women are voting independently of male family influence, prioritising welfare delivery, safety, education, and dignity.
Policy Feedback Mechanism: Women’s responses to welfare schemes serve as a direct feedback loop influencing governance priorities and re-election strategies.
Catalyst for Inclusive Politics: The evolving behaviour of women voters has encouraged parties to incorporate gender equity into mainstream political discourse, beyond token representation.
Issues of Gendered Voter Turnout:
Documentation Barriers: Women face systemic exclusion from electoral rolls due to inadequate documentation, name changes after marriage, and migration-related bureaucratic lapses.
Procedural Exclusion: Administrative exercises like Special Intensive Revision (SIR) have disproportionately omitted women, reflecting institutional insensitivity to gendered realities.
Intersectional Marginalisation: Women’s political inclusion remains fragmented by caste, class, and religion, preventing the emergence of a cohesive gender-based voting bloc.
Symbolic Empowerment: While parties celebrate women as voters and beneficiaries, practical empowerment remains limited, with persistent underrepresentation in legislatures and party leaderships.
Way Forward:
Institutional Strengthening: Ensure gender-sensitive voter registration and simplify documentation norms to eliminate procedural exclusions.
Beyond Welfare Politics: Transition from cash-based welfare populism to policies promoting education, employment, and political representation.
Data-Driven Governance: Use disaggregated gender data to assess welfare effectiveness and refine electoral outreach grounded in socio-economic realities.
Leadership and Representation: Expand women’s participation in party structures, local governance, and Parliament, ensuring parity in decision-making roles.
Civic and Political Literacy: Invest in sustained grassroots voter education, enabling women to act as autonomous political citizens rather than electoral dependents.
India’s pharmaceutical industry, long known as the “pharmacy of the world,” is again under scrutiny after toxic cough syrups were linked to child deaths in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Laboratory tests revealed dangerously high levels of diethylene glycol (DEG), an industrial chemical used in antifreeze, in syrups. The incident has triggered state bans, factory inspections, and renewed debate over the safety and accountability of India’s drug manufacturing system.
This follows earlier international tragedies in The Gambia, Uzbekistan, and Iraq, all involving India-made syrups.
Pattern of Recurring Cough Syrup Tragedies:
India has repeatedly faced incidents of DEG contamination in pharmaceuticals over the past century, reflecting systemic failure rather than isolated error.
Historical incidents: Major poisoning events were reported in Chennai (1973), Bihar (1986), Gurugram (2020), Jammu (2019), and internationally in The Gambia (2022) and Uzbekistan (2022), leading to hundreds of deaths, most of them children.
Common pattern: In each case, toxic solvents were substituted for pharmaceutical-grade compounds to cut costs, exposing the absence of strict supplier verification and testing.
Regulatory aftermath: Investigations typically result in temporary bans and arrests but rarely in structural reform, allowing recurrence.
Root cause: Weak coordination between central and state regulators, underfunded laboratories, and an enforcement system that reacts after fatalities rather than preventing them.
Toxic Component: Diethylene Glycol (DEG)
Nature: A clear, sweet-tasting industrial solvent used in brake fluids, antifreeze, and plastics manufacturing.
Why it appears in medicines: It is sometimes misused as a low-cost substitute for propylene glycol or glycerine in pharmaceutical syrups.
Toxicity: Even small doses can cause severe abdominal pain, vomiting, metabolic acidosis, kidney failure, and death.
Permissible limit: Only 0.1% is allowed in drugs; recent tests found over 46%, indicating gross manufacturing negligence.
Historical precedent: Global awareness of DEG poisoning dates back to the 1937 U.S. “Elixir Sulfanilamide” disaster, which killed over 100 people and led to the creation of the U.S. FDA’s modern drug laws.
How are Medicines regulated in India?
Legal framework: Governed primarily by the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, and the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945.
Authority structure:
The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) under the Ministry of Health regulates imports, new drugs, and quality standards.
State Drug Control Authorities license manufacturing units and monitor local sales.
Implementation challenge:
Fragmented responsibilities lead to uneven enforcement and duplication of work.
While CDSCO issues guidelines, states often lack testing infrastructure or manpower to ensure compliance.
Public health being a state subject further complicates central supervision.
Testing requirements: Manufacturers must verify both raw materials and finished formulations, but this is rarely enforced or independently audited.
Regulatory and Structural Gaps:
Weak coordination: No integrated digital system links state and central regulators to track licenses, test results, or violations.
Inspection failures: Many small and medium-sized drug firms operate without periodic inspection or third-party audits.
Resource deficit: State drug labs often face staff shortages, outdated testing equipment, and minimal budgets.
Penalties too lenient: Adulteration and misbranding attract limited imprisonment or fines, offering little deterrence.
Lack of global alignment: India’s domestic quality standards often diverge from those used by WHO or international regulators, creating dual regimes for export and domestic markets.
How such incidences impact India’s global credibility?
International scrutiny: Following deaths in The Gambia and Uzbekistan, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued global alerts on India-manufactured syrups.
Export restrictions: Several importing countries now demand independent quality certificates before allowing entry of Indian pharmaceuticals.
Erosion of trust: India’s image as a low-cost, high-quality medicine supplier is undermined by repeated safety lapses.
Diplomatic and economic cost: Quality scandals threaten a $25 billion export industry that supplies over 50% of global vaccine demand and a major share of generic drugs to Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.
Way Forward:
Centralised surveillance: Create a national digital platform integrating manufacturing, testing, and licensing data across states.
Independent quality audits: Mandate third-party verification of raw materials, excipients, and solvents used in formulations.
Stronger penalties: Introduce criminal liability for executives in cases of fatal contamination.
Laboratory strengthening: Upgrade all state drug testing labs with modern equipment and accredited quality management systems.
Export accountability: Require WHO-GMP certification for all export-bound and domestic drug batches alike.
PYQ Relevance:
[UPSC 2024] The case study focuses on a senior scientist, Dr. Srinivasan, working on a new drug, facing pressure to expedite trials and resort to unethical shortcuts, such as manipulating data to exclude negative outcomes and selectively reporting positive results.
The questions posed specifically asked the aspirant to:
• Examine options and consequences in light of the ethical questions involved.
• Discuss how data ethics and drug ethics can save humanity at large in such a scenario.
Linkage: The core issue involves the provision of quality healthcare and social services. The crisis highlights the vulnerability of populations, both domestically and internationally, to unsafe drug manufacturing practices. Questions can focus on the mechanisms, laws, and institutions designed for the protection and betterment of vulnerable sections (like consumers of essential medicines).
SC Judgements | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Indian Constitution - historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure
Why in the News?
The Supreme Court has ruled that age limits prescribed under the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021 do not apply retrospectively to couples who had frozen their embryos and initiated the surrogacy process before January 25, 2022, the date when the law came into effect.
Case Background:
Petitions: Filed by three couples who had undergone IVF and frozen embryos before Jan 25, 2022, when the Surrogacy Act came into effect.
Issue: They became ineligible under Section 4(iii)(c)(I) (age limits: women 23–50, men 26–55).
Argument: Since embryos were created pre-2022, the process was already initiated and could not be retrospectively invalidated.
Court’s View: Recognised embryo freezing as a lawful start to surrogacy; held that new age restrictions cannot retroactively disqualify such couples.
Supreme Court’s Observations and Constitutional Findings:
No Retrospective Disqualification: The age restrictions introduced by the 2021 law cannot apply retrospectively to cases where medical procedures had already begun.
Equality in Conception Modes: Justice Nagarathna emphasised that couples conceiving through assisted reproductive technologies (ART) must enjoy the same constitutional protection as those conceiving naturally.
Article 21 & Reproductive Autonomy: The Court reaffirmed that the right to reproductive choice including IVF, ART, or surrogacy, forms part of personal liberty and privacy under Article 21.
Article 14 & Equality Before Law: Retrospective age-based exclusion was termed arbitrary and unreasonable, amounting to a violation of equality.
Parenting Competence Argument Rejected: The Court rejected the notion that older parents are inherently less capable, stating that state authorities cannot retrospectively judge parenting ability once medical procedures have been initiated lawfully.
Non-Retroactivity Principle: Reinforced the rule that unless a statute explicitly states otherwise, it operates prospectively.
Precedent Applied: Relied on Suchita Srivastava v. Chandigarh Administration (2009), where the Court recognised reproductive autonomy and bodily integrity as constitutionally protected rights.
Back2Basics: Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021
Objective: To regulate surrogacy, prevent commercial exploitation, and ensure ethical, altruistic surrogacy based solely on medical necessity.
Legislative Intent: To promote ethical medical practices, protect the rights of surrogate mothers and children, and curb commercialisation while respecting constitutional morality and reproductive dignity.
Applicability: Extends to all surrogacy cases involving Indian citizens and permanent residents, and works alongside the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021.
Key Provisions:
Type Permitted: Only altruistic surrogacy (no payment except medical expenses).
Eligibility for Couples: Married for at least five years; woman 23–50 yrs, man 26–55 yrs; no living biological, adopted, or surrogate child.
Single Women: Only widows or divorcees (35–45 yrs) are eligible; unmarried women excluded (under legal challenge).
Surrogate Requirements: Must be a close relative, married, with at least one biological child; age 25–35 years.
Certification: Requires Certificate of Essentiality, infertility proof, parentage order, and insurance for the surrogate.
Penalties: Commercial surrogacy banned; violation punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment and ₹10 lakh fine.
Regulatory Bodies: Establishment of National and State Surrogacy Boards for implementation and oversight.
Issues Highlighted by the Supreme Court:
Absence of Transitional Provisions: The 2021 Act lacks a “grandfather clause” protecting couples already in process before its commencement.
Inconsistent Standards: The Court questioned why adoption laws have no upper age limit, while surrogacy does, creating unequal treatment among parents.
Gender Discrimination: Restricting surrogacy access to only married couples and excluding unmarried women was flagged as a potential Article 14 violation.
Fundamental Rights Impact: Retrospective restrictions infringe upon the right to equality and reproductive freedom under Articles 14 and 21.
State Overreach: The Court cautioned that the state’s intent to protect child welfare cannot override individual liberty or invalidate rights exercised under prior legal norms.
Significance of the Judgment:
Reinforcement of Reproductive Rights: Confirms that assisted reproduction and surrogacy fall within the ambit of reproductive autonomy and personal liberty.
Protection Against Legal Injustice: Shields couples who initiated lawful medical procedures from retrospective disqualification.
Constitutional Precedent: Establishes that statutory changes cannot nullify pre-existing lawful rights, strengthening India’s jurisprudence on non-retroactivity.
Judicial Balance: Maintains a balance between ethical regulation of surrogacy and protection of individual autonomy.
Wider Applicability: Permits similarly placed couples to seek relief before respective High Courts, widening the ruling’s scope.
Affirmation of Constitutional Morality: The Court underscored that justice, equity, and good conscience must guide interpretation where legislation creates unintended inequities.
[UPSC 2024] Under which of the following Articles of the Constitution of India, has the Supreme Court of India placed the Right to Privacy?
The Indian Army has initiated procurement of ‘Saksham’, an indigenously developed Counter-Unmanned Aerial System (CUAS) Grid, to enhance airspace security and counter emerging aerial threats.
Visual Representation
About Saksham Counter-Unmanned Aerial System (CUAS) Grid:
Overview: Indigenous counter-drone system developed by the Indian Army with BEL, Ghaziabad, to detect, track, identify, and neutralise unmanned aerial threats.
Purpose: Secures the Tactical Battlefield Space (TBS) or Air Littoral—airspace up to 3,000 m (10,000 ft) against low-altitude drones.
Origin: Conceived after Operation Sindoor, which revealed gaps in air defence.
Acronym: SAKSHAM – Situational Awareness for Kinetic Soft & Hard Kill Assets Management; a Command-and-Control (C2) platform integrating sensors, weapons, and AI analytics to create a Recognised UAS Picture (RUASP).
Procurement: Approved under Fast Track Procurement (FTP); aligns with Atmanirbhar Bharat and the Army’s Decade of Transformation (2023–2032).
Key Features:
Detection & Tracking: Continuous surveillance via radar, radio-frequency, and electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensors.
AI-Enabled Prediction: Uses AI to forecast hostile activity and suggest counter-responses.
Sensor–Weapon Fusion: Integrates jammers, directed-energy systems, and kinetic interceptors for unified action.
Automated Command Support: Provides real-time decision aids for threat prioritisation.
3-D Airspace Visualisation: Displays dynamic views of friendly and hostile assets.
Network Integration: Runs on the Army Data Network (ADN) and links with Akashteer Air Defence Control for unified airspace management.
Mobility & Modularity: Compact, scalable, and rapidly deployable across terrains.
Indigenous Focus: Fully designed and produced in India, demonstrating advanced self-reliant defence capability.
[UPSC 2025] With reference to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), consider the following statements:
I. All types of UAVs can do vertical landing. II. All types of UAVs can do automated hovering. III. All types of UAVs can use battery only as a source of power supply.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) Only one (b) Only two (c) All the three (d) None*
India unveiled its National Red List Roadmap and Vision 2025–2030 at the IUCN World Conservation Congress 2025 in Abu Dhabi.
Global Context:
IUCN Red List: Globally, 1,69,420 species have been assessed; about 28% are classified as threatened.
Biodiversity Decline: The Living Planet Report 2024 documented a 73% decline in vertebrate populations (1970–2020), with freshwater species down by 85%.
Extinction Rate: Current extinction rates are 1,000–10,000 times higher than natural background levels due to human pressures such as habitat loss, overexploitation, and climate change.
Global Need: Strengthening regional red lists like India’s provides granular, science-based data to guide conservation financing and global biodiversity monitoring.
About National Red List Roadmap and Vision (2025–2030):
Purpose: Marks India’s first coordinated national effort to scientifically assess the extinction risk of ~11,000 species of plants and animals by 2030 using IUCN Red List methodology, the global benchmark for species assessment.
Aim: To establish a science-based, nationally coordinated red-listing system that strengthens biodiversity planning, conservation policy, and threat mitigation.
Strategic Alignment: Supports India’s commitments under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF), reaffirming India’s leadership in global biodiversity governance.
Outcome Goal: To publish National Red Data Books on flora and fauna by 2030, serving as authoritative reference guides for ecological protection and management.
Key Features of the Initiative:
Scientific Alignment: Adopts IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria, ensuring uniformity and comparability with international conservation assessments.
Scope and Coverage: Envisions evaluation of 11,000 terrestrial and marine species, encompassing major ecological regions across India.
Core Outputs:
Peer-reviewed species assessments with global visibility.
Publication of National Red Data Books and creation of a digital public database for species data and risk analysis.
Institutional Framework:
Implemented jointly by the Botanical Survey of India (BSI) and Zoological Survey of India (ZSI).
Partner agencies include IUCN India, Centre for Species Survival: India – Wildlife Trust of India (CSS: India–WTI), and the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC).
Funding and Resources: Total outlay of ₹95 crore, comprising ₹80 crore from BSI and ZSI budgets and ₹15 crore mobilised for training and international collaboration.
Capacity Building: Creation of a cadre of 300 trained species assessors and development of national training modules on biodiversity evaluation.
Policy Integration: The data generated will inform India’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, legislative updates, and species recovery prioritisation through 2030.
Need for such a profile:
India’s Biodiversity Profile: Recognised as one of the 17 megadiverse nations, India hosts four biodiversity hotspots, the Himalayas, Western Ghats, Indo-Burma, and Sundaland (Nicobar Islands).
Ecological Richness: Despite covering only 2.4% of global land area, India shelters 8% of global flora and 7.5% of fauna, with 28% of plants and 30% of animals being endemic.
[UPSC 2011] The “Red Data Books’’ published by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) contain lists of:
(a) Endemic plant and animal species present in the biodiversity hotspots.
(b) Threatened plant and animal species. *
(c) Protected sites for conservation of nature and natural resources in various countries.
The UN will cut peacekeeping personnel by 25% across nine missions after U.S. funding dropped from $1 billion to $680 million under President Trump’s “America First” policy.
US and Peacekeeping Funding Dynamics:
The US and China together contribute nearly 50% of the UN’s peacekeeping budget.
The U.S. outlined its new commitment of $680 million, marking a 32% decrease from last year’s payment.
A senior UN official confirmed that China has pledged to pay its full contribution by the end of 2025, offsetting some of the financial shortfall.
Implications of Funding Cut:
The withdrawal of peacekeepers will leave several fragile regions exposed to renewed instability, especially in Africa and the Middle East.
The cuts signal a shift toward selective, donor-driven peacekeeping, prioritising geopolitical interests over collective international responsibility.
For the UN, the challenge lies in maintaining operational credibility and protecting civilian populations amid reduced resources.
Aboutthe United Nations Peacekeeping Mission:
Overview: UN Peacekeeping is a collective international mechanism established to maintain peace and security in conflict-affected regions under the leadership of the United Nations.
Personnel: Peacekeepers, known as Blue Berets or Blue Helmets, include military, police, and civilian members from contributing nations.
Origin: The idea arose after World War II with the formation of the UN in 1945, marking a new era in global conflict resolution.
First Mission (1948): The United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO) was deployed after the Arab–Israeli War to monitor ceasefires, setting the template for future operations.
Evolution: Over time, missions expanded to cover civil wars, humanitarian crises, and post-conflict reconstruction across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.
Core Principles:
Consent of the Parties
Impartiality
Non-use of Force (except in self-defence or mandate defence)
Deployment: Missions require the consent of key conflict parties and are authorised by the UN Security Council.
Functions: Include monitoring ceasefires, disarmament, protection of civilians, humanitarian assistance, promotion of human rights, and support for democratic governance.
Finance: United States (26.95%)> China (18.69%)> Japan (8.03%) > Germany (6.11%) > United Kingdom (5.36%) > France (5.29%).
India’s Contribution:
Major Contributor: India ranks among the largest troop contributors since the inception of UN peacekeeping.
Participation Record: Contributed over 1.95 lakh troops, served in 49 missions, and made 168 supreme sacrifices in service.
[UPSC 2024] Consider the following pairs:
Country Reason for being in the news
1. Argentina: Worst economic crisis
2. Sudan: War between the country’s regular army and
paramilitary forces
3. Turkey: Rescinded its membership of NATO
How many of the pairs given above are correctly matched?
(a) Only one pair (b) Only two pairs* (c) All three pairs (d) None of the pairs
The 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to Laszlo Krasznahorkai, a Hungarian novelist known for his dense, philosophical narratives and apocalyptic vision of modern existence.
Back2Basics: Nobel Prize in Literature
First awarded in 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been conferred 117 times to 121 laureates.
Prize Details (2025): Each laureate receives 11 million Swedish kronor (~1.2 million USD), an 18-karat gold medal, and a diploma.
Ceremony: Held annually on December 10, marking the death anniversary of Alfred Nobel (1896), Swedish inventor and founder of the prize.
The 2024 laureate was Han Kang of South Korea, recognized for fiction confronting historical trauma and the fragility of life.
About Laszlo Krasznahorkai:
Overview: Hungarian novelist celebrated for his dense, philosophical, and apocalyptic prose that examines the fragility of modern civilization.
Background: Regarded as one of Europe’s leading postmodern writers, noted for long, flowing sentences and hypnotic rhythm.
Themes & Style: His works probe moral collapse, spiritual decay, existential isolation, and the search for meaning amid disorder.
Literary Voice: Combines dark humor with metaphysical reflection; often set in bleak, decaying landscapes where characters struggle between despair and artistic endurance.
Recognition: Known as a “writer’s writer”, his art embodies a belief in the redemptive endurance of literature.
Major Works & Adaptations:
Satantango (1985): Debut novel portraying a collapsing rural community; adapted by Béla Tarr into a seven-hour film, acclaimed for its realism and existential tone.
The Melancholy of Resistance (1989): Allegory of hysteria and conformity in a small town; adapted as Werckmeister Harmonies (2000).
War and War (1999): Follows a Hungarian archivist obsessed with preserving a manuscript symbolising human history; explores madness and transcendence.
Seiobo There Below (2008): Interlinked stories on art and divinity across cultures; won the 2015 Man Booker International Prize.
Baron Wenckheim’s Homecoming (2016): Tragicomic portrait of post-communist moral decay; won the 2019 National Book Award (Translated Literature).
The signing of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) in July 2025 marks a major milestone in India–UK relations, cementing their partnership in trade, technology, defence, and climate cooperation.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s visit to Mumbai further signals mutual intent to deepen collaboration under the evolving Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) framework of Roadmap 2030 (2021).
The agreement reflects a broader trend i.e. India’s calibrated engagement with post-Brexit Britain and the European continent, aligning trade liberalisation with strategic convergence.
India–UK Relations: A Quick Recap
Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (2021): Anchored in Roadmap 2030, covering trade, climate, defence, technology, and health.
Economic Ties: The UK contributes nearly 5% of India’s total FDI; bilateral trade exceeded USD 20 billion in FY 2024–25.
Defence Cooperation: Exercises such as Ajeya Warrior and Konkan Shakti, and collaboration in aerospace and propulsion systems strengthen military interoperability.
Technology Partnership: The Technology Security Initiative (TSI) focuses on AI, semiconductors, quantum technology, and critical minerals.
People-to-People Linkages: Over 1.7 million Indian-origin residents and 150,000 students in the UK reinforce socio-economic ties.
Global Convergence: Shared democratic values underpin cooperation on climate action, maritime security, and UN Security Council reform.
Trajectory: The relationship is transitioning from historical ties to a modern, technology-driven alliance, embedded in the emerging multipolar global order.
India–UK Economic Partnership under CETA:
Framework: The CETA (2025) combines tariff reduction, regulatory alignment, and investment facilitation, aiming to double bilateral trade by 2030.
Benefits for India:
Tariff cuts on pharmaceuticals, textiles, and agricultural exports.
Enhanced access for IT, green tech, and digital services.
Implications for the UK:
Lower duties on automobiles, Scotch whisky, and high-end machinery.
Post-Brexit diversification into South Asian markets.
Double Contributions Convention (DCC): Exempts Indian professionals in the UK from dual social security payments for up to three years.
Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT): Ensures investor protection and promotes sustainable FDI in manufacturing, renewables, and infrastructure.
Defence Industrial Partnership (2025): Facilitates joint R&D, co-production, and defence manufacturing, aligned with Atmanirbhar Bharat.
Technology Security Initiative (TSI, 2024): Coordinates semiconductors, quantum computing, AI, and critical minerals cooperation at the national security adviser level.
Parallel European Engagements:
India’s UK outreach complements its broader European diversification strategy:
EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA): In effect from October 2025, ensuring USD 100 billion investment over 15 years.
EU Negotiations: Trade with the European Union reached USD 136.5 billion (FY 2024–25) with sustained dialogue on an FTA.
This multi-vector diplomacy balances India’s engagement between continental Europe and post-Brexit Britain.
Europe’s emphasis on technological sovereignty, climate neutrality, and Indo-Pacific cooperation aligns with India’s maritime and sustainability interests.
The combined outreach enhances India’s access to capital, innovation, and strategic technologies, consolidating its role as a balancing power in global governance.
Economic and Strategic Significance:
Complementarity: India offers scale and skilled labour, while the UK contributes technology, capital, and innovation ecosystems.
Co-Development: Collaboration in green energy, fintech, advanced manufacturing, higher education, and sustainable finance.
Geostrategic Convergence:
UK’s support for India’s UNSC seat and NSG membership.
Joint naval and maritime initiatives under the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI).
Partnership on Electric Propulsion Capability Initiative in naval systems.
Diaspora Role: The Indian diaspora serves as a connective economic and cultural bridge, amplifying trade and investment flows.
The relationship now transcends transactional trade, emerging as a multi-domain strategic alliance integrating security, sustainability, and innovation.
Challenges and Negotiation Frictions:
Political Sensitivities: Colonial legacy and diaspora-linked protests periodically affect diplomatic optics.
Negotiation Hurdles: Differences on tariff schedules, rules of origin, and intellectual property.
TRIPS-Plus Provisions: India’s resistance to stronger IP norms preserves its pharmaceutical flexibility.
Immigration and Data Divergences: Require harmonised frameworks for professional mobility and digital governance.
FTA Ratification Delays: Absence of fixed timelines for CETA and BIT create investor uncertainty.
Despite frictions, both sides perceive these accords as long-term strategic enablers, not mere commercial instruments.
Conclusion:
The next phase of engagement should focus on joint innovation, co-production, and sustainability-based partnerships, moving beyond conventional tariff-based frameworks. Strengthening defence R&D and technology transfer mechanisms will foster greater self-reliance and industrial growth in both nations.
India, though the world’s largest producer and consumer of pulses, continues to face chronic supply-demand imbalance, threatening food security and farm incomes.
Introduction
The Union Cabinet (1 October 2025) approved the ₹11,440 crore “Mission for Atmanirbharta in Pulses”, a 6-year programme (FY26–FY31) to achieve self-sufficiency in pulse production.
The initiative responds to surging imports of $5.5 billion in FY25, the highest ever, amid stagnating domestic yields and acreage.
India, though the world’s largest producer and consumer of pulses, continues to facea chronic supply-demand imbalance, threatening food security and farm incomes.
Value Addition: Pulses and their Production in India
Overview: Pulses are edible seeds of leguminous plants (family Fabaceae), cultivated for dry grains such as gram, tur, urad, masoor, and moong.
Nutritional Role: Rich in protein, fiber, micronutrients, and amino acids; low in fat and vital for nutritional security.
Agro-Climatic Range: Grown in both kharif and rabi seasons, requiring 20–27°C temperature and 25–60 cm rainfall.
Production Share: India produces ~25 million tonnes, accounting for 25% of global output, yet consumes 27%, making it the largest producer, consumer, and importer.
Crop Composition: As per FY2024, Gram (~40%), Tur/Arhar (15–20%), Moong/Urad (8–10%) dominate; pulses occupy 20% of grain area but only 7–10% of total foodgrain output.
Economic Efficiency:Arvind Subramanian Committee (2016) estimated a ₹13,000/ha higher social benefit for Tur vis-à-vis rice cultivation due to water and emission savings.
Way Forward:
Seed Innovation: Intensify research through ICAR–IIPR and utilise India’s 70,000 germplasm accessions for high-yielding, climate-resilient strains.
Area Expansion: Promote rice-fallow pulse rotation in eastern India and intercropping systems in semi-arid regions.
Assured Procurement: Scale up NAFED and NCCF-led MSP operations, ensuring timely payments.
Infrastructure Support: Strengthen warehousing, milling, and processing hubs near production clusters.
Import Rationalisation: Impose variable tariffs to protect domestic farmers from global price volatility.
Sustainability Integration: Incentivise pulse cultivation under carbon farming and sustainable agriculture missions.
PYQ Relevance:
[UPSC 2017] Mention the advantages of the cultivation of pulse because of which the year 2016 was declared as the International Year of Pulses by the United Nations.
[UPSC 2020] With reference to pulse production in India, consider the following statements:
1. Black gram can be cultivated as both kharif and rabi crop.
2. Green gram alone accounts for nearly half of pulse production.
3. In the last three decades, while the production of kharif pulses has increased, the production of rabi pulses has decreased.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only * (b) 2 and 3 only (c) 2 only (d) 1, 2 and 3
Linkage: Pulses imports often strain the Balance of Payments (BoP) and affect food inflation (a topic tested in 2024 Mains). Achieving self-sufficiency saves foreign exchange and helps manage domestic price volatility.
Explained | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Effects Of Liberalization On The Economy, Changes In Industrial Policy and their effects on Industrial Growth
Introduction / Context
Recent Disasters: In 2025, three major industrial accidents — the Sigachi Industries chemical blast in Telangana (June 30), the Gokulesh Fireworks explosion in Sivakasi (July 1), and the Ennore Thermal Power Station collapse in Chennai (September 30) — killed nearly 60 workers within three months.
Scale of the Problem: According to the British Safety Council, one in four fatal workplace accidents globally occurs in India, though actual figures are higher due to underreporting in informal sectors.
Structural Failure: These tragedies expose a systemic breakdown in safety enforcement, where profit maximisation overrides worker protection.
Why Workplace Accidents Occur
Preventable Failures: Most industrial accidents occur due to negligence in hazard prevention such as poor equipment design, absence of alarms, and lack of maintenance.
Telangana Case: The chemical reactor was operated at twice its safe limit, safety alarms failed, and untrained contract workers were deployed without records or protection.
ILO Findings: The International Labour Organization (ILO) attributes most accidents to cost-cutting by managements, not random chance or individual mistakes.
Human Error Myth: Employers blame workers for “human error”, but systemic issues like excessive work hours, fatigue, and exploitative conditions are the root causes.
Lack of Safety Oversight: The absence of mandatory inspections and safety officers allows hazardous practices to continue unchecked.
Evolution of Workplace Safety Laws in India
Colonial Roots: The first Factories Act of 1881 was enacted under British rule to regulate working hours and conditions in textile mills.
Post-Independence Framework: The Factories Act of 1948 became the foundation of India’s occupational safety regime, covering licensing, rest periods, and machine maintenance.
Bhopal Legacy: The 1987 Amendment followed the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, introducing stricter safety clauses but failing in enforcement due to bribery and falsified records.
Compensation Mechanisms: The Workmen’s Compensation Act (1923) and Employees’ State Insurance Act (1948) provide for injury and income loss but remain financially inadequate.
Lack of Criminal Accountability: Employers rarely face criminal charges for fatal negligence; compensation is often paid through government relief funds, not company liability.
Post-Liberalisation Deregulation and Impact
Shift in Policy: Since the 1990s, India’s industrial policy has prioritised labour flexibility over worker protection.
Self-Certification: States like Maharashtra (2015) allowed industries to self-certify compliance, effectively dismantling inspection-based oversight.
Ease of Doing Business: Safety rules are now portrayed as regulatory hurdles, diluting mandatory standards for inspection and reporting.
Contract Labour Expansion: Informal and outsourced workforces dominate hazardous sectors, operating without registration or legal protection.
Erosion of State Capacity: Labour departments have been underfunded and depowered, reducing preventive enforcement to mere paperwork.
The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSHWC) Code, 2020
Purpose: Consolidates 13 older laws including the Factories Act (1948), Mines Act (1952), and Contract Labour Act (1970) into one unified framework.
Scope: Applies to all workplaces with 10 or more workers and covers mines, docks, and factories.
Employer Duties: Mandates risk-free work environments, medical check-ups, and welfare amenities, with provisions for National and State Safety Boards.
Penalties: Prescribes monetary penalties for violations and limited punishment for accidents causing death.
Criticism: The Code converts safety from a statutory right to administrative discretion, weakening enforceability and inspection mechanisms.
Other Key Labour Codes:
Code on Wages (2019): Ensures minimum wages, equal pay for equal work, and timely payment, reducing wage-related exploitation.
Industrial Relations Code (2020): Governs strikes, layoffs, and retrenchments, focusing on maintaining employer–employee harmony under managerial control.
Social Security Code (2020): Extends healthcare, pension, and insurance benefits to gig and platform workers, integrating fragmented welfare laws into one structure.
Current Trends and Emerging Risks
Extended Working Hours: Post-pandemic, States have increased daily limits and reduced rest periods, heightening fatigue-related risks.
Case Example: Karnataka (2023) made longer shifts permanent, undermining rest and recovery norms critical to accident prevention.
Informalisation: Over 90% of India’s workforce operates informally, with no safety records or accident insurance, leaving families uncompensated.
Weakened Enforcement: Inspections replaced by self-reporting allow companies to evade accountability for safety violations.
Outcome: India remains among the world’s most dangerous industrial economies, with preventable deaths treated as operational costs.
Institutional and Governance Failures:
Policy Shift: The State’s role has shifted from enforcer to facilitator, prioritising investment over worker welfare.
Diluted Inspections: Labour departments, understaffed and politically pressured, no longer conduct surprise or independent audits.
Token Punishment: Accident inquiries result in minor fines or temporary closures, not criminal prosecutions.
Moral Blindness: Treating workplace deaths as “inevitable” reflects a moral and administrative collapse in valuing human life.
Way Forward: Restoring Safety as a Fundamental Right
Safety as Right: Workplace safety must be reinstated as a non-negotiable constitutional right, not a regulatory privilege.
Reinforce Inspection: Mandatory and surprise inspections must replace self-certification to ensure compliance.
Criminal Liability: Employers responsible for preventable deaths must face criminal prosecution, not ex gratia settlements.
Economic Logic: Studies confirm that safe workplaces increase productivity and profitability, contradicting industry claims of cost burdens.
Moral Imperative: Until the State enforces accountability, transparency, and legal deterrence, India’s workers will remain collateral casualties of deregulated growth.
[UPSC 2024] Discuss the merits and demerits of the four ‘Labour Codes’ in the context of labour market reforms in India. What has been the progress so far in this regard?
Linkage: The topic of the erosion of workers’ rights is highly important for the upcoming UPSC Mains, particularly because it connects statutory, economic, and social issues, making it a favorite for analytical questions
